Improvement in blind-slat operators



s. M. SHERMAN. BLIND-SLAT OPERATORS No. 194,270. Patented Afig.14.-,1877.

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= Specificatipn forming part of hettersPatent No 194,270, dated August 14, 18 7 7 application filedfi Jnne'2i9,187-7'.

T lc. 'u ihora may of Fort Dodge, in. the county off Webster and State of;Iowa, haveinvented a new and usefull'm provementinBlind-Slat Operators and I do hereby declare that the iollowingisafnll and exact; description of; the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, and to the lettersof reference marked thereon.

The object I have in viewis to operate the upper andlower v sections, of 1 pivoted windowblindslats:independently ot'jeach other with outm interfering in anyz manner with the" win.- dow-sash, andqat; the; same time to produce meansfor eifecting this purposewhj ch will-be simple and cheap in construction and-reliable My invention therein consists in the novel combination and: arrangement: of.- means for operating the two sections of pivoted slatsindependently; of each other, as morev fully hereinat'tcr described and claimed,

To en'able others skilled inithe art to manufacture my device, I proceed to describe the same, having reference .to the. drawings, in whicha 1 Figure l is a perspective view of one side of a window-frame with a blind hinged thereto and my improvement in position to operate the pivoted slat; Fig. 2, a horizontal section on the line :0 w, looking downward; and Fig. 3, a similar section on the line y y, looking upward.

Like letters denote corresponding parts in each figure.

A represents the window-frame, and a a the grooves in which the upper and lower sashes run.

B is a blind, hinged to the frame in the usual manner, and having two sections, B B of pivoted slats.

For convenience of illustration, I have shown in the one blind two styles of "pivoted slatsone, B, the common kind, having the ends of the slats let into the blind-frame, and the other, B, with metal clips secured to the ends of the slats and pivoted by them to the framewith the devices which Ihave designed to employ for operating them.

It is sometimes required to remove the slats,

y y as commonly constructed, for repairsor oth- Beit know'n that I, SEELEY M. SHERMAN,

erwise, which has ordinarily necessitated'jthe taking apart of I the entire blind-frame, ;To obviate this defect, I prefer to. rabbet theouter stile b on its inneredge down to the holes 1; formed for the ends of the slats, and place therein a strip, 0, whichis securcql: by wood-screws.- I

By, removingthis strip at any time the slats can be taken out ornew ones setin position to: supply the placev of slats broken orotherwise injured; 1 1 ,1} Thesemeans are not required when theslats ar mp oye ts n h y n be mov d by simply taking out the pins by which the metal clips arepivoted to the frame.

Another change. I prefer to make in; the frame of the blind isto substitute for the center railametal rod,-d, which is set-be1 tween: the stiles inthe sameuposition as the center, rail; This; rod has one end screw: threaded, as, shown, and the other ,provided with an eye, throughwhich a wood-screw is turned to hold thelrod in position. This-rod allows the light to betterpass throughthe blind when the slats areopen and, byremovt ing the wood-screw and turning such rod, the blind frame may be expanded to prevent the ends of the slats from binding against the stiles. as they often do in the ordinary blind, or by turning the rod in the opposite direction theframe may be. correspondingly contracted.

0 G are two metal cranks, which are made in the form shown in Figs. 2 and 3. These cranks are set in the windowframe into grooves below the snrfaceof the sash-grooves a a, and extendingunder the parting strip (1 The ends 0 e of the cranks project outwardly from the frame in slots cut in the outer sashguiding strip 0?, and are extended laterally over such strip to its outer end. The other ends e c of the cranks play in slots cut in the inner guiding-strip I1 and have small knobs on their ends by which they are moved. In practice, the other side of the window-frame would also be provided with two cranks, similar in construction to those described, for operating the slats of the blind on that side.

As will be seen upon inspection, these the sides of the rods being sloped or beveled away from such slots.

The sliding spring-rods D D are operated by the cranks O 0 when the blind is closed, but when the blind is opened these rods are moved away from the cranks, and the connection broken.

Upon shutting the blind, if the slots in the spring-rods do not come in line with the ends of thecranks, the cranks upon being moved strike against the beveled faces of the rods, springing such rods away from them until the slots are reached, when the rods spring back into position, and the ends of the cranks enterclaim as new therein,'and desire to secure by the slots. I

For operating the ordinary blind-slats B the foot of the spring-rod D is pivoted to a lever, E, which is in turn pivoted to the frame of the blind, as shown at 'i. The'end of the lever E opposite to the oneconnected with the spring-rod has joined to it a metal .or other rod, 42 which is connected at its other end to the slat-rod '5 By moving the crank O and spring-rod D the slats can be opened or closed atwill through the medium of the lever E and rod 2' This rod 73 when constructed of metal, also acts as a spring to hold the slats open or shut, since it is bowed out to some extent by the opening of the slats.

For operating the style of slats represented by B, the heel of the spring-rod D is connected, loosely or otherwise, to the slat-rod k. This slat-rod is pivoted to the metal clipson the inner ends of the slats, which are extended for that purpose. By moving the crank O and rod D the slats B will be opened or closed.

It is to be understood that when a blind is constructed entirely of the ordinary slats B or entirely of the slats B that two sets of connections similar to those described for operating the styles of slats used will be employed, while the cranks remain the same, and also that four of the cranks, spring-rods, and connections will be used for each window, two for each blind. I

By these means the upper and lower sections of the slats of a blind can be operated independently of each other, and without interfering with the window-sash. The means employed by me are also simple and cheap in construction, can be applied to blinds already in use, and are durable in wear and reliable in operation.

Having thus fully described my invention and explained some of its advantages, what I by Letters Patent, is-- y 1. In a blind-slat operator, the combination of the cranks G O with the sliding spring-rods D D, substantially as described and shown.

2. lnfa blind-slat operator, thecombination,

with a blind carrying sliding spring-rods and means for connecting such rods, with the piv oted slats of the cranks O G, pivoted in the window-frame,'and adapted to engage with the rods when the blind is closed, substantially as described and shown. 7

This specification signed and witnessed this 18th day of April, 187 7;

' Y SEELEY M. SHERMAN.

Witnesses:

FRANK F. DAWLEY, M. H. BLIss. 

